


please dont leave me alone

by jamesmarchant (orphan_account)



Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: Fake Chop, Heist Aftermath, M/M, hotwiring a car when u dont know how to hotwire a car, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-07 01:42:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14070153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/jamesmarchant
Summary: Aleks was a dead weight at James’ side.Heists don’t always go as planned, it’s just a hazard of the job, but this time was getting fucking ridiculous. The money was God-knows-where, everyone was separated, Aleks was fucking shot, and all of their comms were blown.(prompt fill from my tumblr @jamesmarchant)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> somethin quick & dirty! i'm gonna be posting my favs of the prompts i've been getting over here in the next day or so :thumbsup:

Aleks was a dead weight at James’ side. 

Heists don’t always go as planned, it’s just a hazard of the job, but this time was getting fucking ridiculous. The money was God-knows-where, everyone was separated, Aleks was fucking  _ shot _ , and all of their comms were blown. 

James crept around the corner of a building, using the shadows of the night to his advantage as he half walked, half dragged Aleks to the back of the alleyway. “We should just stick to fucking arm deals.” James hissed while he eased Aleks to the ground. Pain flashed over Aleks’ face at the strain on his side, and James couldn’t help flitting his hands around Aleks, fucking  _ pissed _ he couldn’t do any more to help. 

“We shouldn’t stop,” Aleks grit out, “The cops aren’t very far -”

“You’re in no condition to keep moving, and I can’t carry you for much longer.” James said, kneeling on the ground next to Aleks and pulling out his phone, “Keep pressure on your side, I’m gonna call Brett.”

Aleks let out a weak cry when he went back to pressing the wound, then said “Brett’s not gonna fucking answer right now, James.”

“You have a better plan?” James snapped back. When he was met with a tense silence he quickly unlocked his phone and dialed Brett’s burner number, ignoring his trembling fingers. A beat passed, and James swore at the automated voice that droned into his ear announcing the voicemail machine. “Brett, I really need a fucking getaway right about now.” He said, before his frustration took over and he hung up, just barely resisting the urge to throw his phone at the opposite wall.

James pushed himself up and started pacing around the alley, searching desperately for a way out of this mess. Aleks wouldn’t last much longer if he didn’t get to Lindsey, but Aleks could barely walk down the street, let alone get up any of the fire escape ladders in the alley. 

“James -” Aleks suddenly said, a desperate fear creeping into his tone. It made James jump and go back to kneeling by Aleks, and was about to ask what was wrong before the first cry of sirens met his ears.

James hissed every swear in the dictionary under his breath, hooking his arms around Aleks’ abdomen to pull them both farther into the alley and as far behind a dumpster as he could get before Aleks muffled a cry into his palm. “ _ I’m sorry, I’m sorry, _ ” James whispered, and in response Aleks twisted, pressed his forehead into James’ neck and kept choking back his pain. 

The sirens crept closer and James barely took a full breath as the screams got louder. The familiar lights striped across the alleyway, cutting through the dark and painting everything red and blue. At the peak of the sirens James caught the sound of three police cars screeching past, but thankfully out towards the bank - the opposite direction he was taking Aleks. 

After the last squeal of tires sped past them James let himself breathe properly, but still held tightly to Aleks, keeping them pressed behind the dumpster. Only after three beats passed with the sirens only getting farther away did James move.

“We need to _ go _ .” James hissed, detangling himself from Aleks and shifting so he could peak out from the dumpster into the alley. 

“You don’t say.” Aleks ground out, letting his head flop back against the concrete wall.

James pointedly ignored the sarcasm, standing to get a better look at the street outside the alley. He paused in his steps forward when Aleks suddenly let out a tiny, desperate noise.

“Don’t  _ leave _ me. James,” He said, and when James turned Aleks’ eyes were wide and  _ scared _ , “James,  _ please don’t leave me alone _ .”

James stepped back to Aleks, kneeling down to cup his face. “I’m not leaving. I promise, I’m trying to find us a way out of here.” He said earnestly, “I see a car across the street, I’m going to hotwire it and then we can get the fuck out of here, okay?” 

“You’ve never hotwired a car before, James.” Aleks said, voice high and weak, the  _ terrified _ look in his eyes promising to never leave James’ mind. 

“I’ve watched you do it before, it couldn’t possibly be that tough. Trust me.” James said, then leaned in to press a kiss into Aleks’ hair before he could talk himself out of it. He stood and started jogging out of the alleyway, tossing “ _ I’ll be right back! _ ” over his shoulder as he went. 

Once he reached the threshold of the alley he switched modes entirely, dropping into a casual stance and walk, confidently crossing the street and stopped at the drivers side door of the car. 

He forced himself to take three deep breaths, he needed to be fucking calm or he’s not going to remember everything that Aleks did when James watched him hotwire a car forever ago. First things first: getting into the fucking car. James tugged at the door handle to no avail before he pointedly said _ fuck it _ , and smashed in the window with the butt of his pistol. He reached over the glass to open the door, thanking any god that would listen that the car was some shitty old-ass model with no alarm. 

James got down to level with the car seat, keeping the image of a younger Aleks up to his elbows in wires up in his mind. He fished his keys out of his pocket and used them to strip what he fucking  _ prayed _ were the right wires, and when two sparked in his hands for the first time since Aleks got taken out did he feel a bit of hope rise in his chest. 

He twisted those two wires together, using the fabric of his jacket to keep himself from getting fucking electrocuted, and pushed on the gas pedal to hear the  _ blessed  _ sound of the engine revving. He jumped up, leaving the driver door open, and bolted across the street and into the alley. He skidded up to Aleks, finding him slumped over, his breaths shallow. 

“Hey, hey, c’mon,” James hissed, kneeling down to pick Aleks up as best as he could with one arm under his knees and another under his arms, “I’m not leaving you alone, you don’t leave _ me _ alone.” 

Aleks wrapped his arms around James’ neck, letting out a weak groan. 

“M’ not goin’ anywhere.” Aleks slurred out, pressing his forehead into James’ neck and letting himself be carried away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im @jamesmarchant on tumblr, come say hi!  
> hope you enjoyed <3


	2. why do i love you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> was debating making this it's own fic here on ao3, but w/ever i'll just add it as a new chapter :thumbs up:  
> this was also a prompt fill from my tumblr @jamesmarchant

“James,” A voice croaked, “Wake the fuck up.  _ James _ .”

A solid hit on his shoulder brought James back to the world of the living. He startled, jumped to sit up straight with a sharp breath.

Post-nap exhaustion clung to James, leaving a musky taste in his mouth and a sluggish feeling in his limbs that he tried to shake by stretching. His spine let out a frankly disturbing amount of cracks at the movement and he cringed at the sound, finally opening his eyes fully. He turned to find Aleks, shirtless, laying on the couch of the warehouse. James was hopelessly confused until he caught the thick bandages twisted around Aleks’ abdomen, and the events of the night previous hit James like a freight train.

They had screeched into the warehouse parking lot a while after the rest of the crew arrived, and James watched as Brett carried Aleks with ease into his office where Lindsey was waiting. James had passed out at his desk chair sometime after, and when he woke in the morning he was alone and Aleks was laid across the couch.

James spent the day sat at the floor with his back against the couch, some shitty netflix documentaries that he’d already forgotten playing as his stomach churned with worry for Aleks. 

Brett texted him at some point in the night, the words “ _ Asher and I are doing cleanup. Lidz says Aleks will be fine, there are painkillers for when he wakes up on my desk” _ doing nothing to quiet the little voice telling James he could have prevented this. 

As it is, though, James shakes his head until he’s back in the present, twisting to kneel by the couch and face Aleks. Frantic words come out of James before he thinks them through, and while he intended to say  _ ‘How are you feeling? Are you in pain?’,  _ it came out more like  _ “‘Ow’re you feeling? Pain?”  _

Aleks huffed a laugh at that, James stopping himself and heaving a sigh, letting his head flop into his hands for a moment before he looked back up to Aleks, letting out his own laugh. For a good breath, things felt normal. Aleks still looked absolutely  _ exhausted _ , but he was loose and smiling and James felt the weight in his stomach lift just a little. 

That was, until, the slight shake of his shoulders jostled the injury on his side, causing the hitching laugh to cut off with a hiss. 

At the first sight of Aleks’ face twisting in pain, the weight was right back in James’ stomach. It took up all the room his guts usually did, crushing his heart and lungs. His hands flitted around Aleks for a moment, mostly on his back and shoulders, worry making itself evident in the slight tremor. Aleks’ face relaxed after a moment, and he was halfway through insisting he was fine when James remembered the text from Brett.

He jumped to his feet immediately, near dashing to Brett’s office and throwing “Just a sec!” over his shoulder. 

He grabbed the meds quickly and then jogged over to the kitchen and filled up a glass of water. 

James walked as fast as he could with a full glass of water back to Aleks, giving the pill bottle a pointed shake once he got to the couch. “Pain meds,” He said, carefully passing Aleks the water and two pills.

Aleks took the pills easily, and then shot James a grateful smile. James returned the grin and then flopped back to the floor, sat cross-legged in front of the couch. 

They stayed like that for a while, talking quietly in the open warehouse about nothing, the topic jumping easily from video games to the dogs to whatever food they were craving for dinner, but ultimately it landed on the night previous.

“Once I drove up Brett carried you in, and I passed out in my chair while Lindsey was patching you up.” James explained.

“What, you didn’t stay by my side till my dying breath like in all the movies? Ugh,” Aleks groaned theatrically, “Why do I love you, then?” 

It was a joke. James knew it was a joke. His heart skipped a beat and then sunk low in his stomach, but he told himself it was a joke, it had to be a joke. He tried to keep the reaction off his face but Aleks, even in this state, picked up on the shift immediately.

There was an awkward pause, James not able to speak past the sand now clogging his throat while Aleks searched James’ face until recognition flashed through Aleks’ eyes.

“I didn’t mean that.” He said quickly, face twisting with concern “You know I didn’t mean that, I- uh,” he stuttered for a minute, glancing about the room, “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay.” James said, ready to brush the subject off as he picked at his fingernails in his lap. 

“No, it’s not, I can tell you’re upset.” 

Silence stretched for a moment. James knew he should talk about this, he  _ knew _ communication was important but fuck can’t he just pretend he never said anything, can’t he pretend Aleks never got hurt because of his  _ dumb fucking actions -  _

“I just,” Anxiety soaked James’ words, his eyebrows furrowing as he turned his gaze to the floor, “If I had done more, then you wouldn’t have gotten hurt -” 

“James, no.” Aleks said, “No, no, no, don’t do that to yourself.” He shifted, waited until James looked up into his eyes. “It’s no one’s fault that I got hurt,  _ especially  _ not yours. Hell,” Aleks gave a pointed glance to his own side, the side covered in bandages, “If anything, you’re the reason I’m still kickin’ right now.”

“...okay.” James said, brows still furrowed and shoulders still tense, up until Aleks shifted a hand out from under the blanket and held it out for James to take. He did immediately, intertwining their fingers.

“I love you, James.” Aleks said earnestly, his eyes genuine and just a little pleading. 

“I love you, too.” James whispered back, not trusting his voice to go any louder. 

There was a pause, there. For just a moment they soaked in the silence, James shifting to lay his head onto Aleks’ stomach and stay there and truly  _ breathe  _ for the first time in twenty-four hours. Aleks didn’t address the vulnerability of the gesture, instead brushing at James’ hair with a gentleness saved only for him and moments like this.

“Think you could pick me up again?” Aleks said quietly, not quite yet wanting to let go of the silence, “I wanna be in an actual bed right now, not this disaster of a couch.” When James lifted his head to look at Aleks a shaky smile was on his face.

“Of course,” James said, “Just give me a minute.” 

The end of that sentence;  _ ‘A minute to watch and confirm you’re okay and alive and that you’re going to be fine,’  _ went unspoken between them, but Aleks knew. 

James settled his head back onto Aleks, his shoulders slumping as he took a few careful breaths. Aleks watched, and Aleks knew. 

**Author's Note:**

> im @jamesmarchant on tumblr, come say hi!  
> hope you enjoyed <3


End file.
